DAN 5:27 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:1–31: God judged King Belshazzar

The author continued to write in the Aramaic language. He wrote about how King Belshazzar gave a big banquet and made use of the sacred treasures from the Jerusalem temple. Belshazzar saw a hand writing a mysterious message on the wall. Only Daniel was able to explain the message, that God was about to punish Belshazzar. That same night an army of Medes and Persians conquered the city and killed Belshazzar.

English versions give different headings to Daniel 5. These include:

The Handwriting on the Wall (GW)

The Writing on the Wall (NIV)

King Belshazzar’s Banquet (CEV)

In some languages it may be more natural to write the heading in the form of a clause. For example, you could say:

King Belshazzar saw a hand write on the wall.

King Belshazzar had/gave a banquet/feast.

Some versions give headings to the subsections of Daniel 5. For example, the NLT has two headings:

The Writing on the Wall (5:1)

Daniel explains the writing (5:13)

The NRSV has three headings:

Belshazzar’s Feast (5:1)

The Writing on the Wall (5:5)

The Writing on the Wall Interpreted (5:13)

You should decide the number of headings that is best in your translation. The purpose of headings is to help readers to follow the events of the story. Headings also help the reader understand the relationships between the different parts of the story. You should try not to have more headings than necessary.

Historical Background:

Nabonidus was the king of Babylon from 556 to 539 B.C. Historical records indicate that he married Nitocris, the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, and that Belshazzar was their oldest son.See the ancient Greek historian Herodotus and the Nabonidus Chronicles. While Nabonidus was absent from Babylon during the last ten years of his reign, Belshazzar acted as king in his place.

Daniel 5 describes the last night of the Babylonian empire. From other historic sources we know that Cyrus, the king of Persia, attacked the Babylonian army during the 7th month of the year 539 B.C. On the 15th day of that month, they attacked the town of Sippar and King Nabonidus fled. The next day Cyrus’ army entered the city of Babylon without any battle and killed its ruler, Belshazzar. Daniel 5 describes what Belshazzar was doing on the last day of the Babylonian empire.

Paragraph 5:26–28

In these three verses Daniel interpreted the words on the wall. He explained what they meant.

5:27a

TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales

‘Tekel’ means ‘weighed.’ God has weighed you on his scales,
‘Tekel’ or ‘weighed,’ means/indicates that God has tested/evaluated you. He is like a merchant who weighs precious metal on his balances,
‘Tekel’ means to check/find the weight of something. And God has judged/tested you, like a merchant who checks/tests the weight of metal on a scale,

TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales: Daniel interpreted the Aramaic word TEKEL as a verb that means “be weighed.” Translate this word in the same way as in 5:25b. For example:

You may transliterate the Aramaic word TEKEL. For example:
teqel: you have been weighed in the balance (NJB)
You may translate the meaning of the word TEKEL. For example:
Weighed—you have been weighed on a scale (GW)
weight, you have been weighed on the scales (GNT)
You may both transliterate and supply the meaning. For example:
TEKEL means ‘weighed’: you have been weighed on the balances (NLT)

you have been weighed on the scales: This is a figure of speech, a metaphor. In Daniel’s time, people weighed coins, metals, or objects for sale, such as wheat. They did not weigh people. However, God said that he had weighed Belshazzar. This means that God had evaluated or judged Belshazzar. He did not judge him to see if he was too fat or too thin, but to test his heart and spirit. There are different ways to translate this:

You can translate the figure of speech. For example:
your weight has been determined/revealed
He/God has weighed you on his balance scales (CEV)
You can translate this expression as a comparison.
God has evaluated you, like a merchant evaluates/weighs precious metal on his scale.
You can translate the meaning directly.
you have been tested/evaluated

Translate this expression in a way that is natural in your language.

you have been weighed: This is a passive verb. If it is more natural in your language to use an active verb, you can say:

God has weighed you

God has tested you

on the scales: In the Middle East people used scales or balances to determine the weight of coins or precious metals. The balance usually had the form of a crossbeam the merchant hung from a hook or a cord. He then hung a pan from each end of the beam. He placed standard weights in one pan and the objects he wanted to weigh in the other pan.

5:27b

and found deficient.

and he has found/seen that you do not weigh enough.
and he has determined that you are not a good ruler.
and you have failed the test.

and found deficient: The Aramaic verb that the BSB translates as deficient means “lacking, deficient.” This is a passive clause. Its full form is “and you have been found deficient.” God is the one who found Belshazzar deficient. He knew that Belshazzar was deficient or lacking in what it took to be a good ruler. If it is more natural in your language to use an active clause, you may be able to say:

and God has found you wanting

This continues the figure of speech in 5:27b. God found Belshazzar to be deficient in weight. That is, he was not heavy enough. This is a figure of speech. It refers to Belshazzar’s moral character, not to his physical weight. Belshazzar was insufficient or inadequate for the task of ruling. You can translate this figure of speech in several ways:

You can translate the figure of speech:
and found to be too light (GNT)
have judged that you lack weightBFrCL88.
You can indicate the meaning of the figure of speech. For example:
and found you lacking in character/virtue
and found not good enough (NCV)
and you have failed the test (similarly the NLT)

found deficient: The Aramaic word that the BSB translates as found is here used in a figurative way. In this context it means “determined, shown, judged to be.” For example:

God has determined that you are inadequate

God has judged you to be insufficient

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear DAN 5:27

Hebrew word order

Section 5:1–31: God judged King Belshazzar

Paragraph 5:26–28

5:27a

5:27b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)